Note: Many people have taken offense to this post, but I've never heard from the author on it, even when I mentioned in the comments that it could be taken down. So in that regard, is it really as bad as everyone says, or does it smack of truths our fragile ears would rather not hear? I'll let you judge.

Joe Nobody is a big author in the self-publishing world who has a great series of novels called Holding Their Own. These books are very popular and speculate on a world gone amok after various catastrophes. The first book is typically in the top 20,000 books on Amazon, and that’s pretty impressive considering Book 1 goes for $9.99. That’s why I find it so funny that Joe Nobody, a typically smart and shrewd author who’s also immensely helpful to other up-and-coming authors, would want to shoot himself in the foot. There was a thread running on Kboards today called “Should I go after a reviewer?” and which you can see below.

The whole premise is that there was a 23-year old that left a 1-star review on Joe Nobody’s book. According to him and his lawyers this cost him $23,000 in lost sales, although how that can be proved is beyond me.

The real question is whether it’d be beyond a jury, as that’s what Joe Nobody wants to do – sue this young and foolish kid so that he can either recoup his losses, get the review removed, or both.Am I the only one seeing the absurdity in this? Here’s an author ranking incredibly well on Amazon. According to his profile on Kboards he’s sold 126,000 books in the past 3 years and that means he’s made more than $1 million. I can't understand why $23,000 is giving him such grief, can you?

Why don’t we try to get to the bottom of some of this, as well as the power that self-publishing message boards can have to both help you, and hurt you.

The Book in Question

The book is selling quite well, at least compared to my books, and I think it’s selling pretty well for a 192-page non-fiction book priced at $9.98. Take a look at the ranking and the reviews:

Overall an impressive rank and review set, I think

Ranking: Here you can see the book still enjoys a decent ranking, around #175,000. Of course for a high-stature author like Joe Nobody that’s just not good enough – that’s a nobody’s ranking!

Reviews: You’ll also notice that there are 35 5-star reviews there. Those are so easily forgotten, aren’t they? Kind of like hard workers that do most of the pushing but never get any of the attention, recognition, or pay raises, right?

And let’s not forget that prominent 1-star review that’s now there, which is what’s really causing this whole ruckus.

When I get bad reviews I do what many do, I lower my price.

Stick to a No-Commenting Policy

I’m reminded why I stick with a no-commenting policy on all my reviews, both good and bad, and truthful and untruthful. I’m not sure that you can see the original review the reviewer left on Joe’s book. These things can be changed, and I have no doubt the reviewer did that in this case. What can’t be changed, however, are the number of comments that now appear on this book.

A well-thought out comment, but now the cat is out of the bag - you've taken the bait

As you can see, there are 19 comments, many of them a back-and-forth between the author and the reviewer. How is this going to help you sell books? First, that reviewer doesn’t care about you. Second, anyone who wants to buy your book can read those comments. I’m willing to bet a large chunk of that $23,000 Joe Nobody is pissing and moaning about was lost due to his own misguided comments. You can tell that the reviewer marshaled his forces to his aid, getting friends to say his review was helpful. A poor review getting labeled as helpful is no way to get a book in Amazon’s good graces, but Joe’s insistence on pushing the issue, assuaging his ego if you will, only exacerbated the problem. Once again I’m reminded of my firm policy to not respond to reviews.

Should Bad Reviews Go On Top?

How about that 1-star review? It’s there front and center, which it should be – it’s been labeled by Amazon customers as the most helpful review. The fact that Joe Nobody helped make it that way through ignorance, sheer egotism, and an irrational approach is surly being left out of that $23,000 lawsuit. Listen, you can do everything in your power to make your books succeed or you can do everything to make them fail. Joe Nobody has taken the route of failure with his book, and the only one who can be blamed for that is himself. One commenter on the thread was nice enough to suggest Joe email Amazon Executive Customer Service (ECR@Amazon.com) or even email Jeff Bezos at his public email address (JEFF@Amazon.com). I’m sure both of those options will be tried, and probably with some luck. After all, Amazon can make a lot of money with Joe Nobody. Now if you or I were to try that tactic? Well, I doubt we’d have the success, or am I wrong?

A Disconnect With Readers

Comments like this and others I’ve seen recently show me how much of a disconnect there is between big-name authors and the people that read their books. See, there’s a real double standard, and Amazon will show favoritism toward big authors like Joe Nobody while ignoring people like you and me. That’s probably the biggest hurdle you’ll have to overcome if you want to get to Joe’s exalted position someday, you know, the one where you can threaten to sue your reviewers and actually have the money to back the threat up! There’s a disconnect between the haves and have nots, and what’s so absurd is this is being typified by someone who writes prepper books. Well, perhaps a great many preppers are wealthy people who made much of their money off the backs of the poor man. After all, how else are you going to afford bunkers, food caches, and other survivalist gear? The real survivalist instincts come from having nothing. Joe Nobody has the money to sue because he’s gained the fans to get that money. I wonder how many he’ll alienate when he goes through with this idiotic and childish idea, or how many have been alienated already by this unassuming thread on a self-publishing message board.

The Power of Self-Publishing Message Boards

That’s what it shows us most of all perhaps, the power of both ruin and renewal that message boards have. Here’s an author that’s respected for what he’s done, looked up to in the self-publishing community, but then goes and says something like this. I’ll certainly read every one of Joe’s comments with a good grain of salt now. Money’s the overall motivator here, as it is with many, but this comment about feeling shafted by a 23-year old really shows where this author’s true sympathies lie. Getting a bad review is tough, I’ve got some. I sure couldn’t afford a lawyer to get my bad reviews removed, even if I wanted to. Just because you’re selling tens of thousands of books doesn’t mean you have a thicker skin than that author just starting their first 500 words. Joe Nobody’s comment today proves that, and it shows you struggling authors out there what not to do. Take your hits and roll with them, and don’t let silly blows fell you along the path to your dreams.

Fascinating article on precisely what NOT to do when self-publishing. It was bad enough that Joe Nobody engaged the reviewer, but to then so publicly shoot himself in the foot before an audience of his peers by taking his grievance to KindleBoards? That's certainly taking a wrong turn at marketing.

Many thanks for posting this.

Reply

Greg Strandberg

01/19/2014 1:57pm

Thanks for reading, Doug. Sometimes we have to make mistakes to learn, at least that's what I saw when I was a teacher.

Greg, you might think that you'll garner points with readers by bashing another author, but you'd be wrong. Your comments are not unbiased and journalistic. They're petty, negative, and translate your jealousy loud and clear.

I'm a member of that forum too, and I've seen nothing but negativity and criticisms from you of other authors, people who are there regularly helping each other and their readers out. What do you gain by that? Nothing.

I wouldn't be one bit surprised if you were one of the trolls going around and downvoting other author's good reviews. You certainly come across as that kind of guy in your posts. It's really sad and disappointing. Why not focus your time on positive things instead of breaking people down all the time? What's there to lose?

Perhaps instead of spending so much time bashing your peers and trying to show off your supreme knowledge, you might find it more productive to either just write more books instead or focus on your peers' contributions or more positive aspects. It can't possibly be pleasant to spend so much of your day being hateful.

You're a sad person. What pisses me off even more than the fact that you wrote this post--one that could have been done in an anonymous way, while still making your point--is the fact that I actually feel bad for you.

More importantly, I feel bad for anyone naive enough to take you seriously. Though, from the general tone and content of much of your postings, I gather there aren't many of those people. Thankfully, you don't make an effort to change your routine, to improve yourself, so I have no fear that you'll never make it very far.

What postings am I talking about? These are all in the last 3 weeks...

http://i.imgur.com/cKR7bov.png
http://i.imgur.com/PAjYElV.png (I don't doubt you do this against other authors, as well)
http://i.imgur.com/nIfjxvN.png (you may want to consider that you're one of the only authors out there writing more and making less)
http://i.imgur.com/0kpb0fG.png (yep, everyone else has it all wrong. you're the shining beacon of truth)
http://i.imgur.com/u4Vmt2T.png

Oh, and this one was fun... You actually thank Joe for one of his kind posts. I can only hope your tiny viewership actually gets to see some of what Joe is really providing to the community.

http://i.imgur.com/NbsuUe2.png
http://i.imgur.com/tBTGsAu.png

A word of advice? Don't come across as a condescending ass to your potential readers...especially when you can't even support the claims you're making in the first place. I'm not worried, though. It takes a special book to hit a 1,000,000 sales ranking.

http://i.imgur.com/RBkAvQN.png

Reply

Greg Strandberg

01/21/2014 4:33pm

Thanks for taking the time to put that all together.

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Henrietta Paxman

02/09/2014 2:12am

While I don't agree with Greg's post at all, I find your post incredibly tacky. This is the type of attitude that has become prevalent in the self-publishing community, and it stinks. Always among the romance writers, I've noticed. There doesn't have to be anything wrong with a book for it to languish at the 1 million rank, and you suggesting that there is says a lot about you.

Just remember, success can be fleeting, particularly in this new e-publishing world. Whatever success you may be enjoying now might not be here in two years, and you could easily find one of your titles riding that 1 million rank.

I hope you'll reconsider this post and remove the specific screenshots and name of the author you're referring to. I get that you disagree with Joe. The topic of your disagreement - whether its right, wrong, or even possible to sue reviewers with competing products -- is a valid one for discussion. But by name calling and pointing fingers at a fellow author, you've actually hurt the discussion you're trying to have. Naming a specific author does nothing to enhance your post and actually detracts from your point by creating every appearance you have a personal vendetta against Joe. I'm not sure the reviewer will appreciate having this incident immortalized on the internet either. I suggest you keep this topic general, rather than centered around one author and reviewer, who may or may not have reconsidered their positions. When you see somebody making what you consider to be a mistake, it's typically not the best idea to make that mistake permanent, which is what you seem to have done here. Both Joe and the reviewer have the option of reconsidering and deleting their comments on Amazon and the message board at any time. But neither has the ability to delete your blog post. Something you might consider anytime you're tempted to shame or "out" anybody on the internet is whether your post will help resolve the issue in a positive way or will only create a permanent record neither party wants to remember.

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Greg Strandberg

02/08/2014 2:00pm

Dara, thanks for your civilized reply.

People have the right to know how big name authors feel about reviewers that leave them poor reviews.

Why does everyone think this is getting so many views? 18 this month. Wow, I'm a big threat, aren't I? Perhaps Goliaths should stop treating me like a David.

If Joe Nobody wants me to remove it he can email me.

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D. Rice

03/05/2014 5:18am

Public reviews and posts on the internet are out there permanently if only in various caches. If you, the author or the reviewer removed immediately that would accomplish absolutely nothing.

Whether I or anyone else agreed or disagreed with you.

Oak

02/08/2014 2:31pm

I don't understand the necessity of publishing screendumps of posts in another forum either. It's like you're trying to gain credibility by posting proof of-whats-going-on. It's sensationalism, and trying to profit on the ill fate of others. I am pretty certain you do not know the whole story, just skimming it to capitalize. Shameful, to say the least. Thanks for showing your true colors though. .

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Greg Strandberg

02/08/2014 2:43pm

What can I say, Oak? I like to cite my sources.

How am I profiting off of it, and what is this whole story you're alluding to? Maybe I can link to that too so people can get the full story, whatever that is.

Why are so many people bothered by a little guy calling out the absurdity and hypocrisy of a big guy?

Don’t big authors always say have a tough skin? Why is a little review bothering this one so much? Don't we say ignore trolls so you don't feed them?

Boy, where are people learning things these days?

I really think Joe should unpublish some of his books if his feelings are so hurt by what people think. If you're going to have a big name that lots of people know then you have to expect criticism and even attacks.

If Joe can't take that I don't think he should be telling others they should be able to take it. It's just sad really that someone so successful is so insecure.

I'd suggest reading this post again, especially the last part about forums and how people should act.

Oh, and if you want me or Joe Nobody to take you seriously, Oak, why not use your real name?

What are you so afraid of? People saying what they think of you? Find another job and stop visiting my site.

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Greg Strandberg

02/08/2014 2:48pm

Here are a few links for anyone thinking of wasting my time with your trivialities and frivolities:

Yikes, I just noticed you're a politician wannabe (running for the Montana legislature). That actually makes sense in regards to your confrontational, I'm right, everyone else is wrong, I love to argue/fight attitude. Class war mongering. Look at congress. They're the poster child for dysfunction.

You keep getting banned from forums, after awhile, it just might be you.

The views this post is getting has little do with anything. You don't get it and that's sad.

Life is too short for all this pettiness and negative drama you thrive on.

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Greg Strandberg

02/08/2014 7:03pm

AJ, thanks for reading the Missoulian! Isn’t it a rag controlled by corporate interests that have no real concern for the state?

To get to your comment, I would love it if you or anyone else could please explain just what it is I don't get, and please feel free to do so right here on my site.

I don't care about you, you don't care about me, so what difference does it make?

If you'd like to waste your time, effort, and keystrokes right here, go right ahead - take your best shot.

I can handle it.

But I don't think you're capable of a though-provoking article that has facts, figures, and concrete things we can measure and debate.

If you'd like to continue to throw out your rubbish, that's fine, but I'm just wondering who you're trying to convince? Your fellow scorned authors that have some kind of ax to grind, or me?

If life's too short for my drama, please don’t come to my site. Like I said, I don’t really care about you and have no interest in you whatsoever. I hope you feel the same about me.

Go away and save me your self-righteous indignation. If you really think I'm the cause for the problems in your life then I’m afraid I can’t help you.

If feel so strongly about me and MT politics, donate to Willis Curdy's political campaign. You can give him $170 by law, and I'm sure he'd love the donation so you can help him grind my face into the dirt for you. Put your money where your mouth is.

That will solve everything and make your life the blissful affair you so deserve.

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D. Rice

03/05/2014 5:34am

A reader's opinion:

I have both steered clear of books based on 1-star reviews and bought books based on 1-star reviews. Depends on what the review says (just "I didn't like it" types of reviews I ignore completely, I need some details).

I always steer clear if an author confronts a reviewer in the comment section of reviews. My reading time, money, and possible review writing time is better spent than risking the drama. There are a lot of books out there.

I have had seen authors engage in some fun or interesting actual discussions in the comment sections and I have no issues with that—but not the drama.

Some author confrontations in review comments seem as if they feel it's a debate section or that they have to "defend" their book or that they or the reviewer have to back up their facts. Good grief. Authors wrote a book, reader legally obtains and reads -- at which point I'm firmly convinced that the author and all their readers are no longer reading the same book or the same facts anyway and everyone both has a different opinion and (particularly nonfiction) picks up completely different facts and context. So?

So what if the author and the reader have different levels of expertise. If an author only wants to sell to readers qualified to judge the book, they need to remove from public sales and do private ones on their (or the publisher) website where they can vet the potential purchasers.

If you want public sales, you get public sales and the corresponding consumer product opinions.

The minute that lawsuit hits court, just how many amazon customers are willing to testify on the kid's behalf that seeing an author's confrontational comments on a review and/or the author threatening a reader with a lawsuit are exactly why they would be unwilling to buy a book.

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Greg Strandberg

03/05/2014 1:18pm

Thanks for reading, D.

When I put a book out, or even a blog post, I move on and forget about it. It makes it a lot easier to focus on the next thing, and I can't help think other authors would benefit from that mindset as well.

Informative article. Thank you. I can say that I am not familiar with the author or the incident, but I am appreciative that you brought it to light because indie authors need to be aware of these things. As self-publishing becomes more and more prominent, we are going to see more situations about that and both sides of the table need to know what could be around the corner.The commenters who are getting upset about your "name-calling" fail to recognize that this author did it to himself. As you said, his comments are other there. And short of a settlement out of court, these facts and any other legal documents will be public record and out there for others to see/examine.

What worries me, and worries others, is that you see how money and status can squelch opposition and criticism. The scary next step is to question free-speech. If you can't say nothing nice in a review, don't say anything at all? Then what is the point of a rating system anyway?

Reply

Greg Strandberg

03/05/2014 1:19pm

Thanks for your kind words, Michelle. I thought of taking this article down many times but I think you make some good points as to keeping it here.

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Kerri

03/05/2014 1:00pm

Greg, I just want to say that I think that the other authors in this post should be ashamed of themselves. First, if someone doesn't want the overall public to know something, they shouldn't put it on the INTERNET. I can't believe some people are telling you that you shouldn't have posted this, or that you should take it down, etc.

As a reviewer ther eis nothing that makes me cringe more than seeing an author wading in to 'correct' a reviewer or 'tell them what they meant' or whatever. Once a book is published, that's it. It's over. Interpretation is up to the reviewer, and while it's okay if the author wants to give interviews or even blog about it, it's NOT okay to go to that reviewer's own review - invading their space - to criticize them.

The thought of an author suing a reviewer makes me feel sick. Is that really what authors want, now? A circle-jerk of positive comments, with no real criticism ever being levelled because all the good reviewers are afraid of being sued? Honestly, I get that it stings. I really do. But when you start bringing money into the picture it just means that you're squashing discourse about your book, and it means that people may be so afraid to talk about your books that you don't get any publicity at all!

Greg, I think you did a good thing, here, calling attention to the fact that this author even thought about this. The suggestions that you're just jealous and could have no other motivation in posting this are ridiculous.

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Greg Strandberg

03/05/2014 1:21pm

Thanks, Kerri. There are a lot of crazy, childish, deranged, foolish, nincompoopic, and sophomoric authors out there - I'm glad you're not one :)

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k oglesby

03/05/2014 1:40pm

All I have to say is...... I will not be buying anymore books, paperback or Kindle if this author that I have never heard of sues. The author so that are defending him will have to suffer with him. .... Greg please keep us updated so I know when I need to start my boycott

Reply

Shelley

03/10/2014 11:38am

I wish the writers taking such exception to it would instead take it as it is obviously intended - as a learning tool. What Joe Nobody did was foolish. His rankings are fantastic on Amazon with very few 1-stars at all. Instead of appreciating his fan base, he instead complains about one lousy 1-star? Wow.

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Biology Book Worm

03/13/2014 1:45pm

Wow, who knew my Amazon review would stir such a firestorm. Greg, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to post this. I posted this as a reply to the thread on Amazon and will repost it here so share a little perspective. I no way did I set out to go after this guy from the start. I legitimately found errors in the book and highlighted them in my review. I only made a point of delving deeper after the author started try to dispute my claims, and got annoyed when I discovered that some of the reviews that convinced me to buy the book clearly did not seem genuine. What type of legitimate Amazon profile only has reviews for 4 products, all of which happen to be for the same authors book, all 5 stars. What are the chances there are multiple profiles like this? Also, the author who claimed to only have one amazon account was accidentally replying to me from another account, then deleting those post later. I think the history of deleted posts still shows. So one account, really Joe Nobody?

One other thing, I think a lot of you see this from the perspective of authors thinking, "how dare some person post a review that hurts my profits". Well think of it this way. The advise Joe Nobody is giving covers life or death topics, and some of the stuff he says could lead to serious injury or death if someone listed to him. Don't you think the public has some right to know that?

By the looks of it, it appears Joe Nobody got my review ghosted off amazon some how. You can see it from a direct link, but it has disappeared off the page. This is such an abuse of what the Amazon review system is set up for. I'll be making my thoughts known to upper management at Amazon. Big author bullies small customer who posts review he doesn't like. The public loves stories like that.

Anyway, here's what I posted on Amazon in reply to the most recent posts.
-------------------------------

The link should not be removed, it highlights the ridiculous lengths the author will go to and I think it further emphasizes what I've been saying all along. Repost: http://www.bigskywords.com/1/post/2014/01/should-you-sue-your-ebook-reviewers.html/

Let's get this straight. I legitimately purchased this book as a consumer who wanted to learn more about the topic. I bought it based on the reviews. Only later did I see some of those reviews came from accounts that were used for nothing other than posting positive reviews on Joe Nobody's books. I don't claim to be an ex special forces member or anything of the sort, but I do have some knowledge about these topics, enough to see through to the fact that author doesn't seem to have a great idea of some of the topics he's writing about. I read the book and found the issues I highlighted in the review. My background is pretty irrelevant, nobody could dispute that the issues I highlighted are valid.

Anyway, now big author Mr. Joe Nobody wants to sue me because he doesn't agree with my review. Geez, doesn't he have better things to do? Who wants to live in a world where all the reviews of every product are positive because any negative ones that gain any prominence get removed? That's the world Joe Nobody wants. Fortunately it's not how the legal system here in the U.S. works.

Reply

Greg Strandberg

03/13/2014 1:47pm

Fuck you, asshole!

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Biology bookworm

03/13/2014 2:03pm

Are you serious? Classy group. Hope your day improves.

Greg Strandberg

03/13/2014 2:32pm

It's not about my day, pal - it's about a stupid, young prick that can't even put his own name on anything.

I take you about as seriously as I take that shit that's collected on the bottom of my shoe.

Why don't you go write a bad review? Isn't that all you're good for?

Don't visit my site again you worthless, young and entitled asshole.

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Biology bookworm

03/13/2014 3:13pm

Alright have a nice day. Hope you find someone to cheer you up :)

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Bob Whitfield

03/13/2014 11:18pm

Woah, woah, woah, where is this coming from? Why all the hostility? and why are you calling him a stupid, young prick? You don't even seem like the same person that put up this blog post...

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Bob Whitfield

03/13/2014 11:27pm

And Greg Strandberg, aren't you a being *a little* hypocritical by responding to all these comments when you yourself were saying one should follow a no-commenting policy? Aren't you practicing the same anger out of anonymity that the author of the book believes brought on the bad review? And furthermore, why scrutinize Biology bookworm for not using his own name? Don't you think he'd be a bit hesitant to do so since his name being used on that site let the author know whom to sue?

Greg Strandberg

03/13/2014 11:30pm

Well, Bob, because they're linking to my site on Amazon, through the comments section of this author's product page. I've already reported it as abuse to Amazon, and I hope they'll remove it.

This reviewer is a piece of shit. If he wanted me to take him seriously he could put his own name on his rubbish, just like I put my own name on my rubbish.

I also don't appreciate dingbats that just copy/paste content from one site onto mine. What is the point of that?

And as to what person I am, Bob, who the hell are you? How long have you been reading this site? Honestly, I don't care. We get a lot of lookers like yourself here, coming to check out this fun article. Honestly, I wish you'd all just fuck off.

Why? Because I don't care about you, that's why. I point out hypocrisy many times on this site in many different articles, but for some reason you're only attracted to this one.

Why is that? I think it's because we like to watch others' misery and point it out to our friends. Kind of like I think this stupid, young prick does. I wish he'd get a life, but I'm not sure something like that is possible, much like I'm not sure it's possible for the many people reading this article each day.

I see many sites linking to this article now, I go to them, and I laugh. Filled with rubbish, right to the brim. Just your typical hit and run bullshit stories, often clueless kids, much like this young reviewer.

Ah, it's great, isn't it? When I was in China you'd never be able to put up a site like this. But then any site with blog in the URL would be banned, just like Facebook and eBooks. Amazon? Nope, no Kindle there.

But I'm not sure you knew that about me, now did you, Bob? So which person is really running this site? If you don’t like it, got get your jollys somewhere else.

So, uh, why aren't you complaining about "Joe Nobody" not even being willing to put his own name on his books? How seriously do you take him? More or less than the shit that's collected on the bottom of your shoe?

Reply

Bob Whitfield

03/13/2014 11:35pm

I'm just curious as to why your post is arguing that it's a bit silly for the Amazon book author to be vindictive toward a bad review, and then the actual reviewer comes on your site and you lambast him and anyone else that disagrees with you. Aren't you trying to advance discussion about an issue? Isn't that the point of posting on a blog?

Reply

Greg Strandberg

03/13/2014 11:36pm

What do you want from me?

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Bob Whitfield

03/13/2014 11:38pm

Haha nothing; I was just trying to have a discussion. The post comes off as someone who is siding with the reviewer and then the reviewer comes on and you solely reply "Fuck you, asshole!" which seems like a contradiction. I agreed with your article and was only interested in why you shifted positions that way

Kerri

03/13/2014 11:39pm

I am curious about this as well, to be quite frank. His initial post seemed quite supportive of the reviewer and then his reaction here has been to tear him apart quite rudely when the reviewer in fact came here to thank him! Makes no sense whatsoever.

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Bob Whitfield

03/13/2014 11:42pm

Kerri, it is a curious matter indeed. I happen to also side with the reviewer in the sense that I believe he is entitled to freedom of speech, believe he was honestly trying to be helpful in correcting any possible errors in the book (it is a book about survival after all) and in addition it really seems like the reviewer knew what he was talking about. It's never fun to get a bad review, but I don't think we can make a character judgment on the reviewer, and I further think it's entirely inappropriate for the author to launch a lawsuit against him.

Greg Strandberg

03/13/2014 11:47pm

I'll tell ya, this post has gotten me kicked off Kboards and possibly a few bad reviews or unhelpful like on my own books. Not to mention the spite and emnity of authors everywhere.

I think it's helped me in no way at all.

Really, I should just delete the damn thing right now and be done with it. I'm just tired of all the nonsense and drama involved with it, still, nearly two months after it went up.

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Mike Crichton

04/19/2014 7:59pm

If your feelings about the matter have changed as much as your responses to Biology Book Worm seem to indicate, then yes, you probably should.

Funny that you should complain about Biology Book Worm not using his real name.

He's reviewing a book written by one "Joe Nobody," which he confesses himself is not HIS real name.

Perhaps you should suggest Mr. Nobody should write his books under his own real name if he wants to be taken seriously?

Reply

Jane

04/21/2014 7:53am

I'm a little curious about this also. Not sure why Greg attacked Biology Book Worm for simply posting a 'thank you' for this blog post. I'm not certain if he was going for the shock factor or what.

Greg, did you by chance sign that silly petition that calls for ALL Amazon customers to use their real names? I'm just curious as you became so, um, upset when BBW posted. I don't use my 'real' name when I post on forums but of course Amazon has it on file for when I order products. I don't think my comments mean any less than anyone else who does use his/her real name. I assume you think differently.

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Diane

04/25/2014 1:21pm

Is it possible someone is posting under Strandberg's name? I've followed his postings and NONE of this sounds like him at all. He has always seemed like a big proponent of reviewer's rights.

I'd really like to know what exactly is going on, because it sounds nothing like him. It almost sounds like he is not only attacking the reviewer, but also his own blog post. It makes no sense.

I'm just a reader and reviewer, but I thought your comments were interesting and innocuous. The tone of some of the comments makes me wonder if they read your entire piece. What's deliciously ironic about Nobody's threat to sue is 1.) he'll have to sue under his real name thus destroying whatever anonymity he desired, 2.) the criticisms of the reviewer with regard to factual information that is contested will come out in court and if Nobody is wrong it would inevitably make him look a fool, reducing sales further, and 3.) that he would use the legal system to defend a book entitled "After the Law..." is just wonderful. My cynical nature wonders if this wasn't a tactical ploy to raise the visibility of a book whose sales were slowing. It would be interesting to see how sales have been after his threat. My general rule is never to rate or review a book I don't like (I rarely finish reading something I don't like anyway) since no publicity is worse than bad publicity.

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Nicholas

05/11/2014 7:09pm

Comments may be purely spiteful at their worst but ebooks may also be complete rubbish or honestly seen as such by the commentator. So as long as comments exist, the writer needs to put up with it. I gave a one star and very critical comment on a certain piece of work whose quality was already apparent from introductory remarks to it elsewhere, not to be nasty pure and simple, but because I thought the already existing reviews were fake (all 5 star and virtually the same date and then no more), praising a book which I knew not to read and which predictably really does not rise above the compost. That's how much I've smartened up on ebooks. Writers can defend themselves and that's that. No need to go to the law at all. Free speech ain't it? My advice is; beware of fake reviews and strategies to that effect. See the connection between such reviews and what the author has the courage to inarticulately express her/himself. It could make you laugh. The blogs, the constant PR harping to keep the show on the road for as long as it lasts. You, my dear reader, too, are on the way down, down, down, into that trap. Save yourself. Check out writers so gloriously commented within the walls of Amazon and on self-promoting sites and see what they amount to outside Amazon. See what you come up with from parties not linked to these great writers (because carefully cultivated links to establish fake objectivity there are a many). Discount all of that and you will possibly be shocked to find nothing! And do get away from the ebook junk culture and that awful self-deceptive need of HAVING TO write! You are being conned for big bucks. If you are serious, discerning, looking for quality, well, lay off he Net, the blogs, the chest-beating. Become quiet, invisible and see if you're up to producing a thing or two. Buy nothing, be it for money or otherwise.

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Greg Strandberg

05/11/2014 7:24pm

I used to think a lot of 5-star reviews on or around the same date was fishy too.

Then I realized promotions, and especially free promotions, tended to produce lots of reviews quickly.

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